Conversationalist

Silly Random. We all know that the best pony is spelled as Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Luna, Scootaloo, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy!
She also would like to ask if you’d stop flaming at her…Get it? The image and the sub-par flame discussion? Lolol… nevermind.

Conversationalist

My primary offense with RD is that she never seems to change. That’s why Magic Duel’s Flutters got on my nerves. She’s proven time and again that she’s hardened up and done some courageous things when her friends are in peril (i.e. being enslaved by a corrupt unicorn who had exiled Smart Purple). Yellow Quiet has more development than Fast Cyan. That’s pretty harsh. You could argue that RD has more development than Redneck Apples, but that’d be wrong first of all, Apples is supposed to be a straightman second of all, and third of all, RD never shows it. She continues to be arrogant and brash, and apparently she has legions of fans because she goes fast. Just like a certain other blue character with an orange sidekick and a rival character with loads of strength and a warm color scheme.

I don’t think I’d dislike RD so much if it actually seemed like she fucking changed a bit. I might not be looking deep enough (LAWL), but she seems to be the most static character. Something I despise in a show about showing lessons and development through characters.

Anyways…

@Rarity and SB in the episode:

As you all know, Rarity and SB are tied for second place, creeping up on Celestia when it comes to my comprehensive best pony list.

I greatly enjoyed Rarity’s portrayal. As people mentioned, she wasn’t being overly dramatic or anything, and when she was, I was laughing my ass off. Which is what Magic Duel had failed to do. Further, Sweetie Belle continued to be hilarious, adorable, and amazing, shocking nobody.

I like the way Rarity was portrayed in this episode more than Magic Duel, but I think Magic Duel was better overall. It seems a lot of stuff was overdone to me in this episode.

Of course, everybody screaming in the image gallery about the Headless Luna probably contributes to my dislike. Mainly because she FUCKINGVAPORISEDTHEHEADLESSHORSEYOUFUCKINGUNOBSERVANTTWITS.

What was I saying?

Oh, yeah. Um.

@Best pony gifs:

What’s that? “But Solaire, you unshakably sexy man, you just said Celestia was the best pony?”

Right you are. About both my rugged attractiveness and my earlier statement. I would have posted gifs of Celestia, but, you see, worst pony (i.e Trixie) got two episodes, while Celestia got zero.

Conversationalist

Commentator

Alright, I’m actually going to set aside my slavish adoration of Rainbow Dash and not take up my usual route of saying that if you don’t like Rainbow Dash, it’s because you’re WRONG. The truth of the matter is that it’s just as valid to find Rainbow Dash a vainglorious cretin as it is to find her the manifestation of awesome in pony form. It’s all a matter of subjective taste, and all opinions are equally valid in the end.

Opinions are, facts are not. Verbose, Dan, and Solaire: You all cite reasons to justify your inherent dislike of RD which are easily falsifiable by canon. This is just unfair.

@Verbose’s charge that Rainbow Dash is negligent of Scootaloo

Verbose claimed that in the new episode, Rainbow Dash is aware of and ignoring the obvious signs that Scootaloo is under duress. This interpretation is plainly contradicted by RD’s established character. Say what you want about her, Rainbow Dash is not a pony to sit aside when she think someone is in danger (As evidenced by her rescuing Rarity from plummeting to her death, Standing up for Fluttershy when she’s getting picked on, going after Spike when he was abducted, helping the buffalo when she thought they were being shafted, her escapades in the Mare do well episode, etc.) To say that Dash would just sit aside when she knew Scootaloo was in serious danger completely goes against her Modus Operandei. If Dash noticed something up with Scootaloo, she did not think it was serious enough to comment on.

@Dan’s charge that Rainbow Dash is a lazy, idiot savant

I found most of your complaint to be legitimate Dan, the mainstay of your argument being that you dislike Rainbow Dash because something inherent to her character just irks you. However, the charge that Rainbow Dash is just some lazy fuckup with incredible natural talent is just wrong. True, Rainbow Dash does display traits of laziness, but never once in regards to her passion for flying. It’s constantly alluded to how much RD practices her routine (Fluttershy offhandedly mentions that she has tried to reproduce the rainboom hundreds of times) and never once is it even suggested that RD’s problems with her abilities result from lack of practice. The original Sonic Rainboom was a fluke, and RD experimented for years to figure out how to replicate it.

Also, regarding her letting that one pony plummet to her death while RD signed autographs, that was just a sign of her massive overconfidence in her abilities, not an indictment of a lack of caring. It was most definitely a character flaw (one which the episode was dedicated to remedying), but quite a different beast from the sociopathic apathy you seem to be alluding to.

@Solaire’s charge that Rainbow Dash doesn’t develop as a character

Wait, so you don’t think that Rainbow Dash has developed as a character but Fluttershy has?

Seriously, Fluttershy? The same Fluttershy that could be found crushed under all of Pinkie’s bags in the episode directly proceeding “Putting your hoof down”? Fluttershy is easily the most inconsistent character on the entire show.

Inversely, I believe that Rainbow Dash has displayed the most consistent character arc in the entire series. Look at the admittedly dickish way she treats Fluttershy in the Dragonshy episode, and then look at the newfound compassion she has learned to display for her in Hurricane Fluttershy, the same compassion we see her display with Scootaloo in Sleepless in Ponyville. This is called a developing character. Sure she’s still brash and obsessed with her own awesomeness, but you know what, that’s part of what I like about her. The fact that Dash has retained her youthful vigor while learning to be more compassionate and understanding is just awesome.

Really, at the end of the day, it’s okay if you don’t like Rainbow Dash, but you should try your best to at least be fair. You don’t need to find reasons to justify your distaste for her. It’s okay for you to dislike the same character traits that I find so endearing, that’s just your problem.

ExudesAffluence

Deactivated

Okay, okay, I’ll admit, Daring Do is an undeveloped character and a rather shallow reflection of Rainbow Dash with a sexier voice, but she still gets to be best pony on badass factor alone. It’s like saying Robert Muldoon was a weak character in Jurassic Park because all he does is get drunk and go with Gennaro and blow up velociraptors with a rocket launcher (fuck the movie).

As for actual best pony, actual best pony who has received any sort of major attention and personality, best pony is obviously Pinkie Pie: Pinkie is pretty much the one mane 6 who can literally steal every scene she is in while never acting out of character.

Then there’s Yellowquiet. I greatly dislike Timidyellow, but that’s not entirely the fault of the concept: she’s a token shy character who occasionally puts the team on her back and manages to grow a spine, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Nor is it really the execution. A lot of Slowflier fans claim that she gets the shaft throughout the series, never getting any real character development, but I disagree. No, she didn’t retain her newfound ability to cope with fear when her friends are in danger that she acquired in Dragonshy, but so what? Klutzershy is a scaredy pony. She’s going to be afraid of change. We saw that in Putting Your Hoof Down. The Yellow One saw what change had done to her. That’s not to say she should be scared of helping her friends in Magic Duel, but more to show that she doesn’t necessarily retain her changes. Yes, it takes the animals of the forest slapping a filly to get her moving, but move she does, and we find her at Zecora’s hut. And her fears of the Everfree are completely justified: we saw in That One Episode That I Can’t Remember the Name Of that Twilight was turned to stone by a cockatrice on the presumably short walk to Zecora’s, so it’s not unreasonable that that, combined with the stress of once more saving her friends, could break a pony like Butterscotch.

And Rainbow Dash. Yes, she’s a bit shallow with her athleticism and she doesn’t always make for the most loyal of friends. But at the very least, I’ll defend her actions in the last episode: that wasn’t Rainbow Dash being a jerk or irresponsible, that was – deep breaths, DeadParrot – Scootaloo lying to herself. It was Scootaloo’s fault, but it was a Scootaloo episode, so the point wasn’t to make Rainbow Dash look good along the way. Besides, she more than made up for it at the end, maturing a lot. Even if that is doomed to be forgotten like Tank in future episodes, it still happened, and that’s more or less good enough for me. But she’s still guilty of being pretty one-dimensional with the Wonderbolts shebang: if I had a dime for every fic I’ve read that involved Rainbow Dash committing suicide after the Wonderbolts reject her, I would A. look harder for those types of fics and B. probably have a few more bucks after a little while. But I think that’s important to a pony like Scootaloo, to have your idol so dead-set on her goals like that. No, Rainbow Dash isn’t the best role model, but – oh wait, yes she is. Would you rather have Scootaloo looking up to Pinkie Pie? Or Twilight? Or Rarity? Or Applejack? Or… I’m all out of mocking names for Fluttercry. Actually, Applejack wouldn’t be too bad, but she’s taken by Applebloom. Yeah, she’s had her out of character moments, especially with the whole cheating thing in Fall Weather Friends, but who hasn’t? Every character is guilty of going against their element at some point or another.

Except Pinkie Pie. Best mane 6 stands.

Now… Deep breaths…. It’s just a cartoon… It’s just a show for little girls…

Commentator

It’s not just “traits” of laziness though, she really is. I think she was even napping instead of being a good friend and helping AJ in one episode, I forget which. No other pony is seen just lying around as much as her.

Hey, to those of you who think Fluttershy isn’t a great role model for the kids: was she or was she not the one who saved their precious lives!?

Scootaloo may still think the most of Shiny McFlyfast, but the CMC all developed a lot of respect for Fluttershy that day, and it was well-deserved indeed.

Fifths is tragically correct when he says Fluttershy’s portrayal is inconsistent though, at least to a certain extent, and for that I blame the writers. She’s gone from very stable, mature, and brave in one episode to bizarrely skittish in another. Don’t care though, she’s still BEST BUCKIN’ PONY.

Scrapbooker

>Pinkie
>Liking the yellow one.
>PFW (Pinkie’s Face When)
Your life will be filled with great agony and torment hugs and snuggles in a little while!
Happy end of all human life Hearth’s Warming Eve everypony!

Media Moderator

@the Fluttershy discussion
I know I said this before, but the show does have a semi-negative continuity feed. I will say that recently, it does seem to be that it seems to be changing to a more positive one (Trixie episode, mentioning other specific events in older episodes, etc.)
Anyways, I bring this up because many of Fluttershy’s traits that she is most well known for are also her character flaws (she literally has the word “shy” in her name). It is an interesting dynamic: If you show her progress more as a character, she loses many of the traits she is most well known for. The way I always saw it was that old habits are hard to break. Now, there are ways that she could develop more without losing the traits that people most identify with her, which I do hope the show does do.

Commentator

Commentator

Ya, I don’t deny that she’s lazy in general. She isn’t lazy when it comes to her flying routine however.

As far as the reason for Fluttershy’s inconsistency, well Jacob pretty much nailed it. The problem with Fluttershy is that her core character traits are also her character flaws. If Fluttershy actually remembered all her friendship lessons, she would cease to have all those fears and weaknesses that make people like her in the first place.

Conversationalist

Exactly what I would have said, except your response being more clear and logical and smarter and longer and easier to read and understandable and clever and- I’m going to have to cut off there, the list is way too long right now, sorry.

I think you Dash haters are taking this way too seriously, you don’t think she has developed as a character? Really?

Anyways, onwards to giffing!
Going around and around and around…
Beyatches, get on here
By here I mean my level
Stop complaining now.

Commentator

Since you mention it Fifths, I think maybe it would be fun to actually explain why I love Fluttershy so much. It’s not just because she’s cute, though she definitely gets points in that category. Later! All this typing is giving me CTS.

Conversationalist

I Think somewhere up there, Fifths mentioned a point of all this best pony thing is all a mater of opinion. So really, which ponies we make which judgements on really come down to what we think is important.

For Me, Rainbow Dash is my favorite because, as others have mentioned, she’s passionate, active, heroic, proud, determined… So one so forth.

But that says a lot more about me than RD as a character. It shows that I myself value traits that make a good champion and warrior, rather than a good mother. It speaks of how much I want both protection and to protect, and to fight for what I believe in.

The fact that I hold RD up as the standard to which all possible girlfriends for me would be judged also says a lot about… something. Maybe the fact that I find these “Active” traits more appealing than “Passive” ones. Who knows?

If we extend this to the other six, We can probably see what those who think they are best Pony value.

Fluttershy
→Maternal instincts
→Kindness
→compassion

Rarity
→Generosity
→Business Savvy
→Courtesy

Twilight
→Knowledgeable
→Organized
→Dedicated

Applejack
→Hardworking
→Honest
→Wise

Pinkie
→Fun-loving
→Care-Free
→Affectionate

Now, looking at all that… I seem to prefer RD’s traits over most of the other ponies traits. I find them… Appealing. And while I can pick out a few things I like about the other 5, I don’t end up finding those traits as appealing as RD’s being the archetypal equivalent of the Offensive classes in an RPG. Like Knights, Barbarians, Warriors, Rogues, Samurai. Those are all Classes that Dash would fit comfortably in, and I just seem to like that more.

Although whether that’s because I consider myself some kind of Squishy Sorcerer or not is kinda hard to tell.

Edit: I also seem to have picked up Vinyl Scratch as my Favorite background pony; which is a position that Rival’s Dash’s. And Luna is my Favorite Princess, also Rivaling Dash’s position, but in a more passive way. See what you can make of that.

Scrapbooker

Everyone seems to list lack of growth/continuity as one of their biggest peeves with the character(s) they dislike. You guys do realize this show has had at least nine different writers since its inception, right? It’s a valid complaint for pretty much EVERY pony, due to the fact that different writers have different styles. Fortunately, season three seems to be working on the continuity a bit more (or maybe that’s just Corey Powell’s style :P).

Granted, I will hand it to Verbose. Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle don’t get anywhere near as much hate. I’ll attribute that to Twilight getting the most development, due to being the manest of the mane six. As for Pinkie, another big complaint is that some ponies act too over-the-top for a joke sometimes, and it breaks character, but Pinkie Pie is meant to be that way, so she’s never really OoC.

I think maybe it would be fun to actually explain why I love Fluttershy so much.

I was hoping for an excuse to do the same thing for Rarity, since she moved up to my number one spot after The Crystal Empire. And because I’ve already explained why I like Fluttershy. :X

Not right now though. I’m tired from work and want to just relax and play some TF2. But I’m posting that I will talk about how awesome Rarity is, so I’m obligated to do it on my day off tomorrow. I meant to do so the other day in response to Burning_Phoenix, but… yeah, that never happened! :P

OBLIGATORYPONEGIF

One last thing, am I the only one who liked Applejack more after this episode? I would love to see more smart-ass Applejack. I still think Hearth’s Warming Eve was her best to date, and rekindling Smart Cookie’s personality in her retorts to the Headless Horse story got a laugh from me without seeming far from what Applejack would do.

Conversationalist

Make Sweetie pack her own bags sure, but treating her like a pack mule for the whole weekend just came across as exploitative to me.

I’m guessing you don’t have younger siblings.

I exploit my little brothers like that all the time. It’s awesome! :D

Dead Parrot wrote:

Going over the ‘Three images per post’ rule is fine when your post is as long as a full page would be on any other forum, right?

>Thinks he wrote a long post
>Doesn’t break character limit

Verbose wrote;

Notice in the midst of this “Worst Pone” tangent, we have pretty much neglected a couple of Pones:

My more casual pony liking friends all seem to have one thing in common: They fucking hate Pinkie Pie. Claiming she’s annoying.

Verbose wrote:

Me, Celestia and Colgate spend all night playing videogames.

HOLYSHIT! EXPLOSIVELASERSYOUSEEINGTHIS?

Jackal Lantern wrote:

One last thing, am I the only one who liked Applejack more after this episode? I would love to see more smart-ass Applejack. I still think Hearth’s Warming Eve was her best to date, and rekindling Smart Cookie’s personality in her retorts to the Headless Horse story got a laugh from me without seeming far from what Applejack would do.

I actually love seeing the small interactions between the ponies that has nothing to do with the main plot like the little “Good things are a Rarity” line in Crystal Empire and the Smart-assness in the latest episode.

It shows that the friendships were developing between these friends. IIRC before they all met Twilight, the Mane 6 were just acquaintances and not friends (with the possible exception of Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash who knew each other from Cloudsdale) and we can see some bonds forming here:

Applejack and Rarity compliment one another perfectly after THAT sleepover episode
Applejack and Rainbow Dash are perfect rivals
Twilight’s studiousness clashes with Pinkie’s craziness and it works like Pinkie and the Brain.

Commentator

God, look at all this passionate argument about our favorite and least favorite pones. Listen to us bicker and gossip about them as if they were personal acquaintences. Do you want to know what that is? I’ll tell you, that’s called immersion! The fact that the show can stir up feelings of such intensity, be they positive or negative, is a sign that your weak hominid brain has been successfully fooled into thinking of these characters as real.

Conversationalist

God, look at all this passionate argument about our favorite and least favorite pones. Listen to us bicker and gossip about them as if they were personal acquaintences. Do you want to know what that is? I’ll tell you, that’s called immersion! The fact that the show can stir up feelings of such intensity, be they positive or negative, is a sign that your weak hominid brain has been successfully fooled into thinking of these characters as real.

Darn right we’re immersed. Too bad I’ve made posts so long they count as either guide books or psychological Analysis case studies.

Screw it, let’s just post our favorite ponies for a while. Starting with this randomly acquired image of best Pony in my opinions.

Conversationalist

Hopefully I can weaponize my sexiness to keep Gilda from being a bitch to Pinkie.

@Why I like Rarity:

Dat marsmello asssssssssssssssssssssss

Er, um, I mean…

‘Cause she’s hilarious. She’s also Sweetie’s big sister, seems to be fairly smart, etc. It’s hard to explain, but there are a lot of reasons why. I like her color scheme the most of the Mane Six, for one. I also think Tabitha St. Germain is a stellar voice actor and can deliver the lines very well. There’s also dat ass the fact that episodes centered around her, or at least involving her, are fairly good.

The interactions with Sweetie in the last episode only further solidified why I like Rarity a lot.

As far as personality goes, I think the writers tend to handle the conflicts that are present in Rarity fairly well. Namely her Greed vs. her Generosity. She wants to be successful and well-known, but she also wants to help her friends and stand by them. It’s a conflict of desires that clashes well and helps make her an interesting character.

@burning:

Character count? You mean that thing Verbose is totally king of breaking and you aren’t?

Also, Colgate is the worst toothpaste brand and playing vidya gaems ain’t got shit on starting a band in Baltimare.

@AJ:

AJ was my favorite pony, once upon a time. Her main flaw is that she’s not as interesting as other characters, due to her not having very many character flaws. She plays the straightman and the lightning rod to all of the dysfunction present in all the other ponies. She’s the level-headed member of the group that usually helps keep everybody in line. Dare I say she also has a fair amount of character development. “But, Solaire, you gloriously beautiful man, how does Redneck Apples have character development?” If you would stop masturbating to me, I would tell you.

While she might not develop much, her relationships do. They tend to stay fairly consistent, too.

So, for that reason, I really like Applejack, though she’s not entertaining enough to warrant being best pony for me.

@SnowGazer:

Yes, yes. Good.

Let the fabulous flow through you….

@Best pony gifs:

Anyways, I voted for that Top 25 Brony Songs of 2012 thing yesterday. My line-up was top shelf, real talk, swag swag, niggas.

Conversationalist

Notice in the midst of this “Worst Pone” tangent, we have pretty much neglected a couple of Pones.

I would say that Pinkie and Twilight are exempt from any sort of real hate because their “bad episodes” are considered to be the best in the show. While Rarity has Sweet and Elite and maybe Sisterhooves Social, Fluttershy has Putting Your Hoof Down (and a lack of development as some people might point out), Rainbow Dash has this one (and her brash attitude), and Applejack is still Applejack. Pinkie has Party of One, considered to be one of the best episodes and Twilight has Lesson Zero, once considered (and maybe still considered) to be the best episode of the show. So when it comes to canon, there’s not much people can go by.

I did use to think Pinkie was annoying as Hell in the first season, but I ultimately got over it after “A Friend in Deed”.

I get to go slay dragons with Celestia and Lotus (whoever that is). On an epic, bug-ridden, overused-meme-tastic adventure, I’m sure.

Her main flaw is that she’s not as interesting as other characters, due to her not having very many character flaws.

Applejack’s character flaw is her immense pride and stubbornness displayed in Applebucking Season and The Last Roundup. In Applebucking Season, her pride kept her from seeking help from her friends who were more than happy to give it to her. Sure, she got the job done, but it could have been done much sooner and with much less trouble had she sought help. In The Last Roundup, her pride kept her from accepting her failure and causing grief for her friends.

Really, I think the reason most people still consider her to be a Mary Sue is because Applebucking Season isn’t that popular of an episode, and most attention in The Last Roundup went to Derpy and Pinkie while Applejack was mostly off-stage. That and her unforgivable lack of screen time.

Anyways, as it stands now, my personal favorite of the mane six is still Twilight Sparkle, and with Rarity as a pretty close second. I can’t really say for the rest of the lineup, mostly because I’m reluctant to declare a “least favorite” pony.

Also, can we slow down with the gifs? This page is really slowing down my browser.

Conversationalist

I wasn’t saying she lacked character flaws to say she’s a Mary-Sue. She’s a very believable character, arguably more than any other in the show. I was pointing out how she lacks the pile of flaws that other characters have because she serves as a support role, keeping the group from going entirely insane.

Her flaws are there, of course, but she’s so busy keeping everybody else in line that they rarely get to show up. She’s a very important character, despite not playing a major role too often.

@Pony confusion:

Lotus is one of the spa sisters and Ticket is the Golden Gala Ticket ponified.

Conversationalist

I wasn’t saying she lacked character flaws to say she’s a Mary-Sue. She’s a very believable character, arguably more than any other in the show. I was pointing out how she lacks the pile of flaws that other characters have because she serves as a support role, keeping the group from going entirely insane.

Her flaws are there, of course, but she’s so busy keeping everybody else in line that they rarely get to show up. She’s a very important character, despite not playing a major role too often.

@Pony confusion:

Lotus is one of the spa sisters and Ticket is the Golden Gala Ticket ponified.

Ticket started from a stream where they kept playing Dash saying “I’ve got a golden ticket” over and over again. A ponychan /pic/ member named Da Krager was the originator of the first ponified ticket. I myself have made a few and asked about starting an entry for it but most everyone thought it was just a ponychan thing nothing more. Now it has a Tumblr and a Facebook page. there is also a game on Newgrounds.
You can find pics of her on Ponychan /pic/Derpibooru